Chest support

ABSTRACT

A chest support that supports the weight of a user&#39;s torso, and more particularly an adjustable chest support that is operative to be adjusted by a user “hands free” (i.e., without the use of the hands). The angular position or tilt of the chest support may be adjusted forward and rearward relative to a seat (e.g., a seat of a chair attached to the chest support), allowing the user to bend, or tilt, his or her torso toward and away from a work area. The chest support is operative to support the torso of a user at the chest area, thereby permitting the user to perform a task while reducing the likelihood of lower back pain and body fatigue. In some embodiments, arm support assemblies may also be mounted to the chest support to effect corresponding movement of the arm support assemblies toward and away from the work area upon adjustment of the angular position or tilt of the chest support.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/180,394 , filed May 21, 2009, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure generally concerns embodiments of a chest supportand more particularly an adjustable chest support that is operative tobe adjusted by a user hands free.

2. Description of the Related Art

Certain tasks or procedures place considerable musculoskeletal demandson individuals performing those tasks. Such tasks may include performingsurgery, performing dental work, repairing automobiles, or the like. Forexample, during laparoscopic surgery, a surgeon typically stands to oneside of the operating table while manipulating relatively longinstruments and while viewing the procedure on a video monitor.Unfortunately, the surgeon has little opportunity to move the body andchange posture, which often leads to fatigue and pain. Further, due tosterility requirements in some environments, moving the body andchanging positions can be relatively difficult.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a chestsupport with arm support assemblies.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the chest support illustrating a user seated ona chair with the chest support in the tilted forward position.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the chest support shown in the tilted forwardposition.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the chest support shown in the upright,vertical position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the chest support configured with asurgical chair and being used to support a surgeon in a positionstraddling a patient lying on an operating table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure generally concerns embodiments of a chest supportthat support the weight of a user's torso, and more particularly anadjustable chest support that is operative to be adjusted by a user“hands free” (i.e., without the use of the hands). The angular positionor tilt of the chest supports described herein may be adjusted forwardand rearward relative to a seat (e.g., a seat of a chair attached to thechest support), allowing the user to bend, or tilt, his or her torsotoward and away from a work area. The chest supports are operative tosupport the torso of a user at the chest area, thereby permitting theuser to perform a task while reducing the likelihood of lower back painand body fatigue. In some embodiments, arm support assemblies may alsobe mounted to the chest support to effect corresponding movement of thearm support assemblies toward and away from the work area uponadjustment of the angular position or tilt of the chest support.

As can be appreciated, the various embodiments of chest supports of thepresent disclosure may be used for performing a variety of types ofmedical procedures, including, without limitation, interventionalradiology procedures, maxillo-facial surgery, abdominal surgery, cardiacsurgery, thoracic surgery, dental procedures, neurosurgical procedures,and orthopedics, to name a few. The chest supports may also be used inother, non-medical trades to support a user in a more ergonomicallycorrect position, and especially for performing tasks requiring forwardbending or titling of the torso of a user.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a chest support 10 is shown that comprises achest pad 11 that desirably is shaped to fit a man or woman's chest. Thechest pad 11 may have various shapes depending upon the chestconfiguration of the user. For example, the chest pad may be narrowed atthe top to better accommodate the chest of a female. Further, the chestpad 11 may be formed from any suitable materials and may include acushion surface to provide comfort to a user.

The chest pad 11 may be held in place by a pivoting bracket 15. Thebracket 15 allows pivoting of the chest pad 11 via a laterally extendingpivot pin 15A (shown in FIG. 2) in order to conform the forward tilt ofthe chest pad to the chest 31 of a user 40, as shown in FIG. 2. Thebracket 15 may be held in place by a support arm 26, which allowsvertical adjustment of the chest pad 11 via a slot 14 and retention by aknob 13. The support arm 26 may be pivoted forward and rearward via ashoulder bolt and bearing 25. In operation, the support arm 26 ispivotable about the shoulder bolt and bearing 25 with controlledmovement via a pneumatic cylinder 18. The pneumatic cylinder 18 may beheld in place by lower and upper pivot pins 28 and 29, respectively. Thesupport arm 26 and pneumatic cylinder 18 may be pivotably andstructurally supported at their lower ends by a U-shaped chest supportbase 19, which may be welded or otherwise secured to the frame of achair seat 22. As can be appreciated, the chair seat 22 may be securedto a structure (not shown) operative to support the chair seat 22 and auser sitting on the chair seat. The upper end of the pneumatic cylinder18 is pivotably attached to the support arm 26. Further, in someembodiments, the pneumatic cylinder 18 and surrounding components may beprotected by a cover (not shown).

The pneumatic cylinder 18 in the illustrated embodiment allows pivotingmovement of the chest pad 11 only by activation of an internal lockvalve of the pneumatic cylinder via downward or upward movement of alaterally extending lever 24. The lever 24 may be moved “hands free” byapplying pressure on the lever using the a portion of the user's armother than the hands, including the user's elbow, wrist, forearm, or thelike. To facilitate this “hands free” feature, the lever 24 may beconfigured to include a substantially planar portion that allows thelever to be comfortably pressed by a portion of the user's arm. Thelever 24 is located above the chair seat 22 at about the location of thearm of the user when seated on the chair seat. Other convenientlocations are available to accommodate the portion of the user's bodyintended to activate the lever 24. In the case when the chest support 10is used in a sterile environment, the user (e.g., a surgeon) may adjustthe angle of the support arm 26 using the lever 24 without breaking thesterile field of a procedure, and without requiring assistance fromanother person. In use, the user may tilt the chest support 10 (andhence the chest pad 11) forward relative to the seat 22, as shown inFIG. 3, by depressing the lever 24 and applying body weight to the chestpad 11 in the forward direction to overcome a bias of the pneumaticcylinder 18. Release of the lever 24 automatically locks the position ofthe support arm 26 in place at its current position, supporting theweight of the user's torso.

The chest support 10 may be pivoted back toward the upright position(shown in FIG. 4) by depressing the lever 24 and removing body weightfrom the chest pad 11, allowing the bias of the pneumatic cylinder 18 topush the chest support 10 toward the upright position. It will beappreciated that the chest support 10 may be locked in the fully forwardtilted position (FIG. 3), the fully upright position (FIG. 4), or anyposition between the fully forward tilted and fully upright positions.The chest support 10 may be pivotable through range of angularadjustment indicated in FIG. 3 by the angle α. Preferably, the range ofangular adjustment is between about 10 and 90 degrees (e.g., 30 degreesof angular adjustment, 60 degrees of angular adjustment, 90 degrees ofangular adjustment, or the like), but it is not so limited. As can beappreciated, the range of angular adjustment of the chest support 10 maybe adjusted by changing the stroke of the pneumatic cylinder 18.

Although the pneumatic cylinder 18 is shown and described herein, itshould be appreciated that other functionally similar devices may beused as well. Such devices included but are not limited to hydrauliccylinders, electronic actuators, springs, or other devices operative toprovide the locking function and the biasing function of the pneumaticcylinder 18.

Left and right arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be supported on thechest support 10 as depicted in FIG. 1. Each arm support assembly 9A and9B may include an arm/wrist rest pad 12A and 12B, respectively, whichmay be attached to and supported by tubular arms 27A and 27B,respectively, in a cantilever fashion. The arms, wrists, or elbows ofthe user 40 may be supported by rest pads 12A and 12B, as shown atinterfaces 30 in FIG. 2. Each of the tubular arms 17A and 17B may bewelded or otherwise secured to U-shaped slides 20A and 20B,respectively, which in turn are movably mounted to rails 21A and 21B,respectively, secured to opposite sides of the support arm 26. Knob andpin assemblies 17A and 17B extend through the slides 20A and 20B,respectively, into one of a plurality of apertures 8A and 8B in therails 21A and 21B, respectively, to lock the arm support assemblies 9Aand 9B at a desired height on the support arm 26. Through release of theknob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B (i.e., by pulling the knob outwardlyso that its corresponding pin is removed from an aperture 8A or 8B inthe rail 21A or 21B, respectively), the arm support assemblies 9A and 9Bmay be adjusted upwardly and downwardly to a desired position. The armsupport assemblies 9A and 9B may be locked in place at the desiredposition by inserting the respective pin of the knob and pin assemblies17A and 17B into a selected aperture 8A or 8B located in the rail 21A or21B. The respective pins of the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B mayeach be spring-loaded by a spring (not shown) located in a housing 16Aor 16B mounted to the slides 20A or 20B, respectively. The spring biasesthe pins inwardly toward the rail 21A or 21B so that release of the knoband pin assemblies 17A and 17B causes their pins to automatically moveinto apertures 8A and 8B with which the pins are aligned.

One or both arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be removed and/orswitched with the other arm support assembly if so desired. Morespecifically, arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be removed from thesupport arm 26 by pulling the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17Boutwardly from the rail 21A and 21B and sliding the slides 20A and 20Boff of the respective rail. In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, therest pads 12A and 12B are positioned at an angle extending away from theuser's body. If desired, the positions of the arm support assemblies 9Aand 9B may be reversed (i.e., the left arm support assembly 9A may beplaced on the right rail 21B and the right arm support assembly 9B maybe placed on the left rail 21A) so that they extend rearward at an angletoward the user. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, since the arm supportassemblies 9A and 9B are mounted to the support arm 26, angularadjustment of the chest support 10 relative to the seat 22 is effectiveto tilt the position of the arm support assemblies forward and rearwardrelative to the seat. Further, since the arm support assemblies 9A and9B are independently coupled to the support arm 26, they may bepositioned at different heights if desired.

In some embodiments, the chest support 10 may be configured for use in asterile environment and may permit placement of a sterile drape 60(shown in FIG. 3 by way of example) over the chest support. In theseembodiments, the shapes of the knob 13, the knob and pin assemblies 17Aand 17B, and the lever 14 may be configured to reduce the likelihoodthat the sterile drape 60 is pinched or pierced during use. For example,the knob 13, the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B, and the lever 24may be free of any sharp edges. Further, it will be appreciated that thearm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be adjusted using a “hands free”mechanism similar to that provided for adjusting the angle of thesupport arm 26.

Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary use for the chest support 10 describedabove is shown. In this embodiment, the chest support 10 is configuredto be included as part of a surgical chair 50, or operating support, foruse by the user 40 (e.g., a surgeon). The surgical chair 50 ispositioned with respect to an operating table 56 such that the user 40is supported in an ergonomically correct position straddling a patient42 on the operating table for performing certain types of surgeries. Thesurgical chair 50 may be used while performing surgery on the patient 42positioned on (e.g., lying down) an operating table (such as shown inFIG. 5) or on a patient chair that may recline (e.g., a dentist chair)to position the patient 42 in a lying-down or near lying-down position.The surgical chair 50 may be used to support the user 40 in a seatedposition straddling the patient 42 to reduce stress and strain on theuser's body while performing certain types of surgery, especiallylaparoscopic surgery (e.g., pelvic surgery). The surgical chair 50 mayinclude a chair base 52 for supporting the seat 22 and the chest support10. The chair base 52 may include foot rests 54 for supporting the feetof the user 40 when sitting on the surgical chair 50. As can beappreciated, the chair 50 may also be used in other medical ornon-medical trades to support a user in a more ergonomically correctposition, and especially for performing tasks requiring forward bendingor titling of the torso.

Advantageously, the surgical chair 50 may help reduce or eliminate painto the lower back while performing work such as surgery on a patient insituations where the user's back has to be bent at an angle slightly orgreatly forward during the procedure. The surgical chair 50 in theillustrated embodiment also provides the ability to substantially fixthe user's torso in position while the user's hands remain sterilescrubbed within the sterile field and without disturbing or breaking thesterile field. In addition, the surgical chair 50 in the illustratedembodiment provides the user 40 the ability to adjust the tilt positionof his or her torso using a portion of his or her arm with minimal or nodisturbance to the work being performed with the hands and allows thearm support assemblies 9A and 9B to move forward and rearward uponangular adjustment of the chest support 10 without disturbing thesterile field.

The foregoing described embodiments depict different componentscontained within, or connected with, different other components. It isto be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary,and that in fact many other architectures may be implemented whichachieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangementof components to achieve the same functionality is effectively“associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, anytwo components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality maybe seen as “associated with” each other such that the desiredfunctionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedialcomponents. Likewise, any two components so associated may also beviewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to eachother to achieve the desired functionality.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that,based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from this invention and its broader aspects and,therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope allsuch changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scopeof this invention.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solely definedby the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the artthat, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appendedclaims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as“open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as“including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpretedas “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as“includes but is not limited to,” etc.).

It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specificnumber of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intentwill be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of suchrecitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations).

Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appendedclaims.

1. A chest support for attachment to a seat and supporting the chest ofa human such that the human may comfortably perform a task over a workarea, comprising: a chest support base adapted to be coupled to theseat; an elongate support arm pivotably coupled to the chest supportbase and extending therefrom, the support arm sized to support the chestof the human while sitting on the seat; and an adjustment mechanismoperative to permit selective adjustment of the angular position of thesupport arm relative to the chest support base, the adjustment mechanismcomprising a lever that when enabled causes the adjustment mechanism topermit adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative tothe chest support base, and when disabled causes the adjustmentmechanism to fix the angular position of the support arm relative to thechest support base, wherein the lever is configured and positioned to beoperated hands free by the human while sitting on the seat.
 2. The chestsupport of claim 1, wherein the adjustment mechanism comprises apneumatic cylinder coupled to the chest support base and the supportarm, the pneumatic cylinder being operative to be locked and unlocked byoperation of the lever.
 3. The chest support of claim 2, wherein, whenunlocked, the pneumatic cylinder biases the support arm toward anupright position.
 4. The chest support of claim 1, wherein the angularposition of the support arm relative to the chest support base isadjustable over a range of at least 30 degrees.
 5. The chest support ofclaim 1, further comprising: a chest pad pivotably coupled to thesupport arm and configured to be comfortably engaged by the chest of thehuman while sitting on the seat.
 6. The chest support of claim 5,wherein the chest pad is configured to be selectively adjustablerelative to the support arm by the human while sitting on the seat. 7.The chest support of claim 1, further comprising: a first arm supportassembly selectively coupled to the support arm and extending laterallyoutward therefrom to the left, the first arm support assembly configuredto support at least a portion of the left arm of the human; and a secondarm support assembly selectively coupled to the support arm andextending laterally outward therefrom to the right, the second armsupport assembly configured to support at least a portion of the rightarm of the human.
 8. The chest support of claim 7, wherein the positionof each of the first arm support assembly and the second arm supportassembly relative to the support arm is independently adjustable.
 9. Thechest support of claim 7, wherein each of the first arm support assemblyand the second arm support assembly are configured for slidableengagement with a rail positioned on the support arm.
 10. The chestsupport of claim 1, wherein the lever comprises a substantially planarportion configured to be operated by at least a portion of an arm of ahuman while using the chest support.
 11. The chest support of claim 1,wherein the chest support comprises a portion of one of a surgical chairand a dentist's chair.
 12. The chest support of claim 1, wherein theadjustment mechanism comprises at least one of a hydraulic cylinder, anelectronic actuator, and a spring.
 13. A method for performing a task ina work area, comprising: providing a chest support, comprising: a chestsupport base adapted to be coupled to a seat; an elongate support armpivotably coupled to the chest support base and extending therefrom, thesupport arm sized to support the chest of a human while sitting on theseat; and an adjustment mechanism operative to permit selectiveadjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to thechest support base, the adjustment mechanism comprising a lever thatwhen enabled causes the adjustment mechanism to permit adjustment of theangular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base,and when disabled causes the adjustment mechanism to fix the angularposition of the support arm relative to the chest support base, whereinthe lever is configured and positioned to be operated hands free by thehuman while sitting on the seat; sitting on a seat coupled to the chestsupport; and adjusting the angular position of the support arm relativeto the chest support base by moving the lever.
 14. The method of claim13, wherein the adjusting comprises: applying body weight to the supportarm; enabling the lever of the adjustment mechanism by applying a forceto the lever using a portion of an arm of the human not including thehands; and disabling the lever of the adjustment mechanism by removingthe force applied to the lever.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein theadjusting comprises: removing body weight from the support arm; enablingthe lever of the adjustment mechanism by applying a force to the leverusing a portion of an arm of the human not including the hands; anddisabling the lever of the adjustment mechanism by removing the forceapplied to the lever.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the chestsupport further comprises a first arm support assembly selectivelycoupled to the support arm and extending laterally outward therefrom tothe left, the first arm support assembly configured to support at leasta portion of the left arm of the human, and a second arm supportassembly selectively coupled to the support arm and extending laterallyoutward therefrom to the right, the second arm support assemblyconfigured to support at least a portion of the right arm of the human,the method further comprising: adjusting the position of at least one ofthe first arm support assembly and the second arm support assemblyrelative to the support arm.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein theadjusting comprises sliding at least one of the first arm supportassembly and the second arm support assembly along a rail positioned onthe support arm.
 18. A chest support for attachment to a seat andsupporting the chest of a human such that the human may comfortablyperform a task over a work area, comprising: a chest support baseadapted to be coupled to the seat; an elongate support arm pivotablycoupled to the chest support base and extending therefrom, the supportarm sized to support the chest of the human while sitting on the seat;and means for permitting selective adjustment of the angular position ofthe support arm relative to the chest support base configured andpositioned to be operated hands free by the human while sitting on theseat.
 19. A chest support for attachment to a seat and supporting thechest of a human such that the human may comfortably perform a task overa work area, comprising: an elongate support arm pivotably coupled tothe seat and extending therefrom, the support arm sized to support thechest of the human while sitting on the seat; and an adjustmentmechanism operative to permit selective adjustment of the angularposition of the support arm relative to the seat, the adjustmentmechanism comprising a lever that when enabled causes the adjustmentmechanism to permit adjustment of the angular position of the supportarm relative to the seat, and when disabled causes the adjustmentmechanism to fix the angular position of the support arm relative to theseat, wherein the lever is configured and positioned to be operatedhands free by the human while sitting on the seat.
 20. The chest supportof claim 19, further comprising: a first arm support assemblyselectively coupled to the support arm and extending laterally outwardtherefrom to the left, the first arm support assembly configured tosupport at least a portion of the left arm of the human; and a secondarm support assembly selectively coupled to the support arm andextending laterally outward therefrom to the right, the second armsupport assembly configured to support at least a portion of the rightarm of the human.
 21. A chair for supporting the chest of a human suchthat the human may comfortably perform a task over a work area,comprising: a seat; an elongate support arm pivotably coupled to theseat and extending therefrom, the support arm sized to support the chestof the human while sitting on the seat; an adjustment mechanismoperative to permit selective adjustment of the angular position of thesupport arm relative to the seat, the adjustment mechanism comprising alever that when enabled causes the adjustment mechanism to permitadjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to theseat, and when disabled causes the adjustment mechanism to fix theangular position of the support arm relative to the seat, wherein thelever is configured and positioned to be operated hands free by thehuman while sitting on the seat; and a chair base coupled to the seat,the chair base being configured to support the seat, the support arm,the adjustment mechanism, and the weight of the human.